At many social receptions, the decor and atmosphere are just as important as the appetizers, drink and food being served. The wine and champagne must be served in appropriate stemware and the hors d'oeuvre or appetizer plates need to be attractive as well as functional.
At many receptions, people stand as they socialize with the stemware in one hand and the plate in the other hand. In order to eat the appetizers on the plate, most people have to find a table or counter to place the stemware down in order to free one hand. Needless interruptions in the flow of social conversations occur while the person leaves the conversation to look for a counter or table. More adventurous or coordinated people will attempt to hold both the plate and stemware adroitly in one hand in order to free the other hand for eating. As a result, needless and, embarrassing spills of wine and food occur.
Previously known plate and cup sets have attempted to solve the above mentioned problems by providing a cup receptacle in the plate. However, many previous plate constructions do not allow the plate to lay flat on a table surface while the stemware remains engaged in the receptacle. Other devices require specially adapted stemware to be used with the plate in order for the plate to function appropriately.
Previously known plate constructions also have problems in adequately seating champagne flute stemware. The receptacles are sized to receive and seat wider wine glasses and champagne glasses. Thin and upright flute stemware can pass vertically right through the receptacle in many plates. If the plate has a receptacle small enough to seat the tall upright flute stemware, the flute stemware can still be prone to tipping and spilling while housed in the receptacle.
What is needed is a plate that has a receptacle that is able to seat a variety of commercially available stemware. What is also needed is a plate that provides seating of the stemware into the receptacle while the plate is held and retains the stemware in the aperture while the plate is seated on a table. Furthermore, what is needed is a plate having a receptacle that can adequately seat champagne flute stemware and provide a shoulder that prevents undesirable tipping of the champagne flute.